Come back to me
by BikerChick101
Summary: Oneshot Set after the season three finale, what if Nate agreed to wait for Serena when she asked him for a break? Please read and review


_**Disclaimer : I do not own Gossip girl**_

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><p>He doesn't know why he agrees, she went with Dan, she kissed Dan and he found out via Gossip Girl. It took him a lot of thinking to come to the decision that he loved her more than this and he could get over her kissing her ex because they were Nate and Serena and they wouldn't end. He never expected her to want a break, he forgave her and she leaves but what can he say, he's always been a sucker for one Serena van der Woodsen.<p>

He spent a really long time in that hospital cafeteria he already saw Dorota and her baby but he just couldn't leave. He heard Dan and Erik talking about Chuck and Jenny and it confused him for a moment because he helped Chuck pick out Blair's engagement ring and for some reason Georgina Sparks was walking around, that never ended well.

Maybe it was because he'd been exposed to babies and their parents that he'd felt the need to visit his father in prison, he was pretty sure he was the only one who did it, his mother had her pride and the rest of his father's family were nonexistent to them.

The old man laughed and clapped Nate on the back when he explained the situation, called him whipped and made a few off hand comments about letting her go too easily. He didn't feel the need to explain that this was Serena and he'd learnt after years of chasing her that the best thing he could do sometimes was just let her run away and hope she came back to him. His father seemed a little surprised with his commitment to Serena but Nate wasn't about to remind his father about how little attention he'd paid to Nate's life no matter how much he wanted to.

The day he heard of Serena and Blair's plans to go to Paris he thought maybe he should move on, maybe he should let her go but he decided that he'd waited for so long, they'd had a chance and she asked for a little time so that they could have a real chance so what's another summer?

He spent most of his time worrying about Chuck going to Prague after Blair rejected him and he quickly learned that it was a full time job. His PI gave him frequent updates on his best friend and he had to judge from there whether he needed to intervene or not. When he first heard about Chuck and Jenny he wanted to slap his best friend for taking advantage of her like that but after a while he realised just how much Jenny had changed in the past few months and if anything it was as much her fault as it was Chucks.

Two weeks after she leaves Dan calls him in the middle of the night, Georgina was pregnant, he was going to be a father. Nate thought for sure he was playing a practical joke on him but when he saw the hugely pregnant girl standing next to Dan the next day he could've died laughing, he wished right then that he could phone Serena and so they could laugh at what Dan's gotten himself into like they did before their relationship really began.

Georgina went into labor the day he got the call about Chuck's shooting, he wished Dan the best of luck and took the Bass jet to get to Chuck as quickly as he could. He somehow managed to convince the doctors to let him take Chuck back to the Upper East Side with him to get the best care by doctors they knew would keep this out of the press and more importantly away from Gossip Girl.

"Does she know?" Chuck asked when they were in his room and Nate shook his head, it crossed his mind a few times to call the girls and let them know that Chuck almost died but he wasn't sure if Chuck wanted that or if the girls would even listen to him. "It's ok, we shouldn't mess up their summer."

"She'd want to know," Nate said staring at him, Chuck nodded and smirked.

"You're just looking for an excuse to talk to my sister," Chuck smirked and Nate rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me that I'm wrong, I still don't understand why you're waiting."

"I've been waiting for her since we were kids, what's another summer?" Nate asked shrugging and Chuck shrugged.

"To each his own," Chuck mumbled as a nurse came in to check on him.

It took Nate a few days to be convinced to leave Chuck and do something else but he realized he hadn't seen Dan and Georgina's baby yet, Chuck just stared at him speechless when Nate told him about Dan's situation and Chuck is never speechless.

Nate stood at the door loft waiting for him to answer, he came to the realization that he always thought if Georgina had a baby it would have devil horns and spew fire. He shivered, it was half Dan so maybe it would be kinda normal, that is if Georgina is telling the truth about Dan being the father, Dan seemed sure enough the last time they talked and Nate was too tired to tell his friend his doubts.

"Hey, you came," Dan said when he saw Nate at the door. "Come in, please."

"You look like you could use sleep," Nate said, Dan stood there with a dishcloth over his shoulder, a bottle in his hand and really dark circles under his eyes.

"Yeah, well Georgina and the baby are asleep and I am trying to tidy this place up a little," Dan said and Nate looked around, he whistled and shook his head at the disarray of clothes and books and toys laying around the room, all the dirty dishes were in the sink he assumed and Dan had cleaned up most of it.

"Urm, do you need help," Nate asked slowly picking up one of Georgina's tops and throwing it onto the other couch so he could sit. He really didn't want to help but his mother and nanny always taught him to offer.

"I can hear how much you want to help, I can," Dan said sarcastically and Nate chucked. "But Georgina called a maid service to come in later today."

"Of course she has," Nate said and Dan shrugged flopping onto the couch opposite Nate, on top of all the dirty laundry and other things laundry.

"Where have you been, when I called you said something came up, good luck and bye," Dan said.

"Well Chuck was shot actually, when he was in Prague, we're trying to keep it away from the girls so Gossip Girl doesn't know and neither do the press," Nate said rubbing his forehead.

"Woah is he … ok?" Dan asked sitting up straighter and widening his eye's in surprise.

"Yeah, he'll be fine, he's in the hospital right now, he'll be walking without help again by the time the summer ends if his physical therapy goes as planned," Nate said scratching his head.

"Well that's good, how's Serena?" Dan asked and Nate frowned, he didn't know whether the feelings Dan had for Serena were friendly or something more and something told him he really didn't want to find out.

"She's … well I actually don't know," Nate said and Dan nodded slowly, understanding.

"Do you want to see him?" Dan finally asked and Nate smiled and nodded. "Wait right there."

Nate chuckled and hoped he wouldn't bring Georgina out with him, he and Georgina had never had a personal relationship like she did with the rest of his friends but he'd helped with her take downs for a reason, he didn't like her.

"And get ready to meet …. Milo," Dan said walking into the room with a tiny sleeping baby boy in his arms. "Nate, this is my son."

"Milo," Nate said nodding as he stared at Dan and the boy, he didn't look unnatural, he looked normal, like the babies he saw at the hospital when Dorota had her baby. "Cute."

"Do you want to hold him?" Dan asked with a smile, holding out the baby and Nate looked at him shocked.

"What? No, no, no, no, no," Nate said shaking his hands and head in front of him. "I don't do well with babies or kids in general."

"You'll learn," Dan said pulling the boy closer to him again.

Nate spent an hour with Dan and his … son, it still felt weird to say that, Dan had a son. Nate made his way back to the hospital to fill Chuck in on the days events but when he reached Chuck's room, his best friend was staring at the wall, his injury not allowing him to move very much to avoid ripping his stitches. He turned his head to the door to find Nate standing there with a confused expression on his face.

"The girls are back," Chuck said simply, tilting his head to his phone on the table next to the bed.

"When did they get in?" Nate asked, pulling his phone out to check the blast he didn't bother looking at.

"This morning," a voice said from behind him. Nate jumped and turned to see Serena and Blair standing at the door behind him. "Why didn't you tell us?" Serena asked.

"We didn't want to disturb your summer," Nate said as Serena rushed up to give her brother a hug while Blair hung back with him, she gave him a side hug and stayed attached to his side gripping him for strength he assumed, her eyes fixed on Chuck.

"It's not too bad, Nathaniel brought me back home," Chuck said, his eyes locking with Blair's. "I'll be out of here soon."

"What were you doing? How did you manage to get shot?" Blair asked, her voice sounded heavy like she'd been crying before, her eyes looked like she would burst into tears again soon.

"I was robbed," Chuck said carefully. "In an alley, outside a club."

Nate crossed his arms over his chest and looked down, he knew Chuck was trying to protect the ring he was meant to give Blair. They managed to find the ring in a jewelry store in Paris and it was safely stored in his safe at the Empire.

"Did they take anything important?" Serena asked and Nate and Chuck shared a look.

"Nothing I couldn't recover," Chuck said and Nate nodded, holding his hand out to Serena and motioning for her to step outside with him.

Serena looked at Blair and walked out with Nate following, before he closed the door he saw Blair jump into Chuck's arms, he assumed she'd cling to him for a while.

"How did you find out?" Nate asked and Serena took a breath and sat down in the chair carefully.

"When we got home, mom told us," Serena said, Nate stood at the wall watching her, he didn't know whether this would be a good time to bring 'them' up but the look on her face when she turned to him told her to leave it alone. "I'm not going to bite you know."

Nate chuckled and sat next to her slouching in his chair, he's been here every day since Chuck was brought here, he was sick of these chairs. "How was Paris?"

"It was fun, Blair met a prince," Serena said curling her legs underneath her and leaning toward him.

"A prince, wow," Nate said nodding, he turned his head to look at her wondering whether she moved on or it she met someone else.

"I didn't meet anyone," she said softly and he looked down embarrassed that she could read him so easily. "I know you Nate."

"So do we have a chance or are you still finding yourself?" he asked outright, figuring if he didn't ask now he'd lose his gut. Serena smiled and took his hand.

"I think we should wait until Chuck gets out of here before we restart anything," she said and Nate could feel his face fall. "I know I said we'd have a chance after this break but I think … Blair needs me and Chuck needs you and our group needs to get through this before we figure out our relationships."

He wondered whether it was because he was just really tired or Serena was rambling and looking for an excuse not to start their relationship again that he didn't understand what she said. He closed his eyes as she kissed his forehead like she did when she told him they needed a break in that hospital cafeteria, she squeezed his fingers and left.

"What did she say?" Chuck asked as soon as he walked back into room. "You look like she broke your heart again."

"She said she needed more time," Nate said rolling his eyes, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "I just don't understand her, what does she want me to do? She knows I didn't mean for her to get hurt when I called the cops on her dad and I forgave her for spending the night with Dan and I waited for the _entire_ summer for her."

"Maybe it's time for you to stop waiting," Chuck said and Nate noticed for the first time that Chuck looked as defeated as he did. "Blair's met someone, a prince."

"Listen I'm going to go out, do you need me to get anything for you?" Nate asked walking further into the room to grab his coat, he didn't say anything about the prince because he was pretty sure Chuck didn't want or need his input.

"Get drunk for the both of us," Chuck said and Nate nodded reaching his hand out to pat Chuck's arm before leaving the room.

He goes straight to a club he and Chuck were meant to go to when Chuck came back from Prague, he sits at the bar and gets wasted. There's a girl next to him with pretty brown eyes and dark brown hair, she talks a lot and he looks like he's listening but she doesn't care whether he gives her answers or not, as long as he reacts when she tries to get his attention.

She has a room booked at the hotel above the club but that's not where they end up. He finds himself in his suite, with a girl who talks way too much and is the total opposite of Serena. He's in a drunken haze when he sleeps with her and when he wakes up the next morning he feels like his head is being pounded on.

The girl he was with is still asleep when he gets up to a knock on the door, he groggily opens it to find Serena on the other side with coffee in her hands.

"What're you doing here," he asks leaning against the door, struggling to keep his eye's open against the light, his head is pounding and all he can think is _shit._

"I went to the hospital this morning," she says casually, entering the room before he has a chance to stop her. "Chuck said you haven't been there since we left last night … and from the looks of things you've had quite a night."

"I deserved a night of drunkenness," he mumbles, shutting the door quietly and walking to where she's seated on the couch. "What are you doing here?"

Serena winces at the harshness of his voice but smiles gently as she answers. "I thought you needed to be checked on as well," she said holding out the coffee as a peace offering which he just stares at blankly. "Urm Blair's with Chuck and they have a lot to work through so I left them alone."

"Of course," Nate says scoffing, staring at the coffee she's left on the table before looking at her. "You need me."

"I always need you Nate," she says slowly, looking into his eyes and trying to find some sort of sign that he believes her, he just feels to hung over to care.

"I hope you don't mind, I borrowed one of your shirts," an annoying voice said from the bedroom door and Nate cringed. "Hi, I'm Annie."

"Serena," Serena said giving the girl an awkward half wave. Annie smiled at her and disappeared back into the bedroom. "I guess you don't always need me."

The pain in her voice made Nate regret the decisions he made the night before but then he remembered why he made the in the first place, "I didn't think you'd care."

"I thought you were going to wait for me," Serena said half way to the door.

"I thought you'd come back to me," Nate said turning to face her, Serena clenched her jaw and turned back to him waiting for him to continue. "Evidently we were both wrong, I should have learnt the first time that you'd never come back for me. By the way Dan and Georgina have a baby, I don't think it would be wise to go there right now."

It was a low blow and he knew it, Serena shook her head and turned around, stalking out of the apartment, leaving the door open and the light to shine right into Nate's overly sensitive eyes. He shut the door and sat down heavily on the couch, Annie made him breakfast and left soon after, making sure he had her number and a promise to call her anytime, Nate threw away the paper with the number as soon as she was out the door, there was no way he was going to call her.

Later on in the day after he slept for a while longer and cleaned up, making his check up call to Chuck came another knock on his door. Nate said bye to Chuck and warily walked to the door, the person on the other side wasn't too happy with him judging from the knock. He was right, when he opened the door he was faced with a red faced Blair Waldorf.

"Explain to me why Serena is sitting in her room at my house crying because of you?" she asked not giving him a chance to say anything. "She asks for time and you go and sleep with the first thing that hits on you."

"I keep waiting for her Blair," Nate screams back. "I keep waiting and she just doesn't care, she just expects me to drop everything for her, what kind of relationship will that ever be, I can't wait any longer."

Blair studies him for a long time after he speaks, his words making her think before she says anything to him. "Ok, well they're releasing Chuck this afternoon, we're having a party for him at the Empire and he needs you to be there, I'll send a suit over later."

Nate just stares at her wondering why she's sending over a suit when he has suits of his own and how she moved from him and Serena to Chuck, deciding he didn't care he nodded and watched her leave. He slept the rest of the day to get over his pounding headache waking up an hour before the party to shower and wear the Blair approved clothes that were sent over, the limo was waiting patiently when he was done. He knew Serena was going to be there but he also knew how much it would mean to Chuck to have them all there.

The dinner party was bigger than Nate anticipated, a ballroom full of people enjoying the music and dancing, there's old people he can only assume are from high society and Bass industry employee's, people he recognizes from high school and even some from Columbia, he's sure there are people from NYU around that Blair absolutely had to invite to let them know how little they were compared to her.

Nate grabbed a champagne flute and made his way over to Blair and Chuck sitting at the main table watching the festivities. "I thought this would be small," Nate said to them when he sat down.

"Glad you made it Nathaniel," Chuck said with a smirk.

"I figured since Gossip Girl covered the story about Chuck being shot we should show them that he's going to be perfectly fine," she said resting her head on Chuck's shoulder. "Plus I had to let them know that I'm not leaving his side."

Nate smiled at them and nodded, happy that something good came from this tragedy. Nate blew out a breath and gazed into the crowd, he knew she was ignoring him and she wasn't one to apologize so it would be up to him to sort out this mess.

"She's right there," Blair said pointing to Serena and some guy he recognizes from Columbia and he wonders why they got an invite to Chuck's release party.

He walks right over to where they are and interrupts whatever conversation Serena looked like she was struggling to keep up with. "Hey, mind if I borrow her for a minute?" he asks and the guy looks at him confused for a moment before Serena jumps up and grabs Nate's arm.

"It was nice talking to you," she almost screams and Nate chuckles under his breath.

"Yeah bye," the guy mumbles as they walk away.

"Oh my God I don't think I could handle another soccer fact," Serena said once they were far enough away. "I'm guessing you didn't just pull me away from that guy because I had no idea how to get out of there myself?"

"No, I think we should talk," Nate says slowly scanning the room for a quiet spot and finding none. "Do you want to dance?"

"Yeah, yes," she said smiling as she accepted his hand. "So where's _Annie_?"

"Who?" Nate asked completely confused at the name and at Serena's tone of voice before he remembered who she was when Serena raised an incredulous eyebrow at him. "Oh her, she's probably clubbing or something, I have no idea."

"Why'd you do it Nate? You said you'd wait," she said looking into his eyes as he maneuvered them around the dance floor.

"I know," he said, biting his lip as they avoided another couple waltzing past them. "I just… I've waited so long S, I just thought when you came back you'd come back to me. When you didn't I just couldn't take it anymore."

Serena nodded and closed her eyes, trusting him to lead her. "I'm sorry," she says when she opens her eyes. "I shouldn't have asked you to wait, I shouldn't have assumed you'd always be there."

"I am always here for you, no matter what you decide to do, I will be here," he says lifting his hand of her hip to tuck her hair behind her ear and she smiles sweetly tilting her head into the palm of his hand.

"I don't want you to ever doubt that I'd come back to you again," she whispers and he lets his hand fall back to her hip. "I need you to know that if I ever need to run away, that I'd come straight back to you. I guess I can't expect you to wait for me but you have to know that I'll love you forever, no matter what happens with us you were my first and last love, I can't ever love anyone as much as I love you."

Nate doesn't even think he can formulate a proper response to her words so he just smiles wide and leans in to kiss her, using both his hands to pull her closer to him.

"Nate, you look really hot when your hair is like this," she says when they pull apart. "But I cannot put my fingers in there without getting gel on them," she says pouting.

Nate tilts his head back as he laughs and leans in again to kiss her. They are interrupted by Blair calling for their attention and Chuck thanking them all for coming and for their well wishes, he thanks Lily, Blair, Serena and 'Nathaniel' personally and with a lot of difficulty he gets down on his knees and presents Blair with the ring he almost died trying to protect. He tells her he can never compete with a prince but he'll give her the world, Serena has tears in her eyes when Blair accepts and wraps her arms tighter around his waist after she's done clapping.

Chuck still has a lot of recovering to do before he can walk himself down the aisle Blair's imagining so the wedding won't be for a really long time but they're happy and that's all Nate can hope for. Pressing a kiss to Serena's temple as he leads her to a cab after the party Nate figures all that waiting no matter how hard and ridiculous it could be was totally worth it, they still had so many hard times ahead of them and he could only hope that Serena would be by his side through it all.

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><p><strong>AN ok so I havent watched season 5 since the 6th episode i think so i am sooooooo behind on everything but I was watching season three again in the past few weeks and I just thought what if he waited for her, if he let her have her time, I dont know it was a wierd thought but I'm pretty happy with what came of it**

**Please please please review and let me know what you think, there hasnt been alot of NS reviewers or ****stories for a while now and thats kinda sad.**

**Anyway until next time (^^,)**


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